Victims Of California Bar Shooting Begin To Be Identified

The identities of the 12 victims who were slain in a deadly mass shooting at a southern California bar late Wednesday night are beginning to be released.

A gunman dressed in a black hooded sweatshirt entered Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks carrying a reportedly legally purchased .45 calibre Glock semi-automatic handgun and opened fire on a large crowd during the bar’s college country music night.

The suspect has been identified as Ian David Long, 28, a former U.S. Marine.

Helus, a 29-year law enforcement veteran, was killed while responding to the incident. He was among the first responders on the scene and immediately exchanged fire with the shooter upon entering the bar, Ventura County Sheriff Geoff Dean said.

His last words were to his wife, with whom he had just hung up the phone before he was dispatched to the bar.

“Hey, I gotta go handle a call, I love you, I’ll talk to you later,” Dean said Helus told his wife.

Thousands of people lined the streets in southern California as Helus’s body was driven from the hospital to a coroner’s office.

Hundreds of people line the highways and overpasses, many waving flags, for the procession for Sgt. Ron Helus, who was killed responding to Thousand Oaks mass shooting overnight.

Coffman had two younger brothers and a sister who had not been born yet.

Before Wednesday’s shooting, his father says he was talking to recruiters about joining the military.

Justin Meek

California Lutheran University was alerted Thursday that Meek, 23, was identified by his family as among the dead.

Meek was a bouncer and promoter at Borderline Bar and Grill, and died while trying to act as a barricade protecting those around him, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Justin Meek, 23, was a bouncer and promoter at Borderline who was shot trying to save others in the bar. “Meek heroically saved lives in the incident,” his alma mater, California Lutheran University, said in a statement. https://t.co/xiiaaxdzxWpic.twitter.com/HMhkp2wtJj

“Our hearts are broken,” the couple said in statement about their niece. “Alaina was an incredible young woman with so much life ahead of her and we are devastated that her life was cut short in this manner.”

Telemachus Orfanos

Orfanos, 27, was a Navy veteran who survived the Las Vegas massacre in 2017.

Manrique was also a Marine Corps veteran who served as a radio operator in the 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, 2nd Marine Division and was deployed to the Middle East in 2007 with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, Jacklyn Pieper, athletic director of veterans organization Team Red White & Blue, told ABC News.

Manrique’s brother, Marcos Manrique, told The Los Angeles Times that Dan was in the parking lot of the bar but ran back in to help people after he heard the gunshots.

Dan Manrique, 33, dedicated his life to service. He served in the Marines as a radio operator, and later helped other vets re-adjust to civilian life. His brother was told that Dan was in the parking lot when shots were fired — and that he ran in to help https://t.co/xiiaaxdzxWpic.twitter.com/Isscwk9Zuo

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